


Orbit

by kinestheticpariah



Category: Black Hole High | Strange Days at Blake Holsey High
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 17:03:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/689349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinestheticpariah/pseuds/kinestheticpariah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet in a coffee shop.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Orbit

They meet in a coffee shop.  
  
It’s nine in the morning on a Saturday, and he’s enjoying his first day off in what seems like an eternity. His first real day off, without revising textbooks or chaperoning field trips or creating lesson plans. He orders a simple cappuccino, picks up a copy of the newspaper on his way to sit down on a stool at a long table along a window.

Next to him is a young woman, poring over a textbook while scribbling notes on a coffee-stained page in a composition book. She’s got the sleeves of her brown hoodie wrapped around her hands, her fiery orange hair in a bun that’s falling apart. Something seems familiar about her pencil-tapping and restless energy but he can’t place it. He turns the page of his paper and takes a sip of his drink.

She’s standing up and gathering her books when she knocks her mug over and spills coffee on his paper. She curses at herself and scrambles to mop it up with napkins from the dispenser. He chuckles and tells her it’s all right, he can buy another paper for just a few more quarters, joining her in soaking up the mess with cheap white paper napkins.  
He takes the soiled napkins from her and makes his way to the trash can by the door, and finds her standing there when he looks up from disposing of them. She’s opening the door for him despite carrying a decent load of textbooks, and looking at him with some mix of confusion and curiosity.

It hits him once he’s out the door.

“Josie?”

He turns to face her as she lets the door shut behind them. She opens her mouth to speak but winds up smiling and laughing.

“Oh my god,” she says, “this is insane. Z? Are you serious?”

He shrugs, adjusts his glasses. They fall into step beside one another as they make their way down the sidewalk. She tucks her books into the backpack she’s got slung over her shoulder.

“I honestly didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” she says.

He smiles and nods. “Nor did I expect to see you.” He fishes his keys from his jacket pocket, and she stops as they approach his car parked on the side of the street. He turns to face her once they’re at the curb. “Where are you headed?”

“Oh, my apartment. Just a few blocks away.”

“I could give you a ride,” he offers.

She starts to protest but then shrugs and sits down in the passenger seat when he opens the door for her. He’s her old science teacher, her old friend. They’ve been corresponding with e-mails, the occasional Christmas and birthday cards, it’s not as if he’s just a random stranger picking her up outside a cafe.

“Thanks,” she says, adjusting her seatbelt as he sits down in the driver’s seat and closes his door. He nods, starting up the car.

“No problem. Anything for a friend.” He smiles at her before putting the car into drive and starting forward.

They make small talk as she directs him to her apartment. She informs him she’s free and asks if he’d like to catch up, and he tells her he was on his way to DC for the day but wouldn’t mind company. When they reach her apartment complex she tells him to wait while she runs inside. She returns six minutes later, the backpack abandoned, and they set off on the two-hour drive.

Somehow it’s not at all uncomfortable.


End file.
